In my opinion one of the good things to come out of the past 15 years is using real engineering to design and build bikes and that scientific testing is being done in the industry. During the last years I worked in the bike industry I built most of the special test equipment at big "S". One of the machines I designed and built was a static wheel tester. Loads could be placed on the wheel in various directions and the deflections measured. I did not do the tests myself, but I remember tied and soldered spokes were tested. I am almost positive this did not add to the wheel stiffness (vertical, lateral, and windup) as long as the loads were within real world limits. The same is true of the difference between high and low flange hubs, although high flange resists windup slightly better. In any case the stiffness of a bike wheel is an order of magnitude more than the wheel with tire. Small differences in wheel design and construction would be very hard to feel while riding. One of the biggest improvements on modern wheels is the rims are much stiffer. This takes a lot of work off the spokes, so the wheel can have less and not have reliability problems as wheels with few spokes did in the old days. In any case I respect the wonderful, clever people who came up with all the bicycle designs throughout the years. Ideas that were sound were pasted on, while harebrained designs were not. But with modern testing all the old wives tales that were in use can be put to grave. I know this opinion may not be popular on this list, but oh well.
Jim Merz
Big Sur CA